To Fight the Invisible Tremors
by ThatKidWithTheUnkeptHair
Summary: Kurt Hummel, diagnosed with Epilepsy at 6 years old. Finn Hudson, who never believed he'd be living with a brother who had seizures. But Kurt and Finn are good at hiding Kurt's condition. What happens when something occurs at Glee that causes all his secrets to leak out?
1. Chapter 1

As a nurse, Carole noticed the abundance of medication in the bathroom when she cleaned it every week.

If she were completely honest, Carole would admit that as frilly as Kurt could be, the bathroom was a damned warzone every time she walked into it.

There was a series of four bottle sitting in the medicine chest, in no real order. But every time Carole opened it to put the toothbrushes away, they were in the exact same order. The first one was always Lamictal. The second was Onfi. The third read Epilim and the final bottle said Prednisone.

Now, Carole only knew two of the bottles; Onfi and Prednisone. Prednisone was always a very well-known drug in the medical world. It was a steroid that helped your immune system fight inflammation in your body. Carole herself had used it once or twice in her lifetime after a big surgery or when her arthritis flared.

Onfi was a good sedative and, in other countries, it was used for people with mental illnesses like Anxiety and depression. But Carole was a little confused on why Kurt had Onfi. It wasn't an approved medication for people with Anxiety or Depression by the FDA yet. Last she'd heard, the FDA was considering it, but now it was used for Epilepsy only.

Carole brushed off her confusion after a minute or two. Burt had confided in her that his son had suffered from depression since his mother died. Maybe he got in on a clinical trial researching the effects. It had been done before.

She continued to clean, scowling when she noticed just how much toothpaste was in the sink.

Could he boys just not fathom that they needed to not use as much damned toothpaste?

Kurt Hummel honestly did not want to be at Glee today. Sylvester had been running their asses off all week in the lead-up to nationals, Schue was just as horrible as normal about handing out solos, and honestly? Kurt could feel that something was wrong. Today was not going to be a good day.

He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes tightly against the bright lights. His chest felt tight and his head pounded and the room spun. He attempted to think back to this morning and the night before. Had he managed to take the right dosage of medication? He had been moved onto a higher dose of medication last week, but he sometimes had a little bit of trouble remembering what dose of medication he was on now that he was on a staggering step-dose.

Behind him, Blaine made a noise. Kurt kept his eyes closed, fighting the anger that wanted to rise in his chest. His ex-boyfriend, even though they'd broken up a month and a half ago, just couldn't seem to leave him the hell alone. Today Kurt just wanted to be left alone.

"Blaine, shut up or move to the other side of the room, please." Kurt used one hand to rub at his temple, the other resting against his chest in a half-hug. Blaine turned to look at Kurt and raised an eyebrow at him, looking at just how pissy his ex was.

Blaine stood up a moment later and grabbed his backpack. He switched with Finn, who eyed him curiously. After a few minutes of feeling the gaze on the back of his head, Kurt threw his eyes open and turned around to stare at his stepbrother.

"Dad warned you I would be rather pissy in the next two weeks. Now leave me alone, Finn Hudson."

His tone was so frigid it bordered on being below zero. Will glanced up at the brothers as Kurt sat back and closed his eyes again, rubbing furiously at his temple. He knew Kurt had a sealed IEP and 504 plan that only certain teachers and administrators could access, and he was one of those few that could.

"Okay, glee club. As we know, Nationals is coming up next week. We need to come up with our set list."

Kurt wanted to scream at Mr. Schue, to be completely honest. Will always did this shit to them! Always! Kurt sat there, his head screaming and his anger slowly rising. Slowly, he zoned out. It didn't matter. Schue would give any solos to Finn and Rachel anyway.

Very rapidly, Kurt's whole demeanor changed. His face turned blank and his hand dropped into his lap. Immediately afterwards, his hand began to shake rapidly, quivering in his lap. His eye lids fluttered open and closed. Finn immediately took in his brother and knew what was happening. Slowly, without calling any attention to his brother, Finn moved seats so that he was right next to Kurt, his shoulder pressed against his brother's. It was a fairly normal move for him, as Kurt often had these small attacks.

Kurt's chin hit his sternum as his head dropped, and Will took a look at the two. Finn slowly waved him away a bit, and Will continued his lesson. Kurt would return soon, and they'd be able to catch him up quickly.

"I've got you, Kurt," Finn whispered, mostly to himself. He slowly wrapped an arm around the younger's shoulders, like he was simply being a good older brother.

Kurt didn't react at all. Instead, his hand continued to quiver as he sat there. Then his jaw began to click open and closed, as if he were grinding his teeth. He kicked his feet out once, and then fell still again.

Finn breathed a small sigh of relief when Kurt fell still again, though he knew that another one could be swiftly on its way. Kurt breathed evenly for a few minutes, Finn watching his brother instead of the teacher. Kurt would be out for a moment or two before he could function again. That is, unless Kurt had another one.

Finn took out his phone, cursing himself for forgetting to time how long Kurt had been gone. But he watched as his brother picked his head up from his chest and blinked at him blearily.

"You're okay," Finn whispered. "Need to go home?"

Kurt continued to simply blink at him, struggling to process what was being said. He let his chin drop again, breathing slowly. Then his head flew back and his body contracted tight. His body slipped out of the chair to the other side of Finn, his head connecting with a chair, and then the floor. And then it began to bash against the floor hard as the seizure finally took over. Finn let out a strangled yelp and dove to the floor beside his brother, throwing his hands underneath Kurt's head as a barrier between the floor and his head.

He'd never really dealt with a grand mal yet. Sure, Burt had made him go through a first responder class as soon as they realized that they'd be moving in with the two men. Seizures had been something they touched on and, even though he hadn't known at the time, Kurt had been the source of all of Burt's reasoning behind the first responder course. Burt had later explained the whole situation. But Finn hadn't dealt with one of Kurt's Grand Mal's before.

The Choir room had broken out into pure anarchy. Mercedes had let out a scream that could rival Rachel's in her shock. Mr. Schue had rushed over immediately, taking over making sure Kurt didn't bash his head on the floor again, allowing Finn to remove his hand. Rachel had immediately throw her hand into her bag to take out her phone, Blaine screaming next to her. Finn immediately reached out and grabbed her phone, his eyes never leaving his wristwatch. Mike and Santana slipped to their knees next to Mr. Schue and Finn, eyes watching closely for anything that could hurt Kurt as he seized. But Brittany and Tina shook as they held on to Artie, who could only stare. Puck flew out of the room, heading to try and get Coach Sylvester.

Kurt shook and grunted as he flew even deeper into the seizure. His head was thrown back, baring his throat. His arms were curled up into his chest, which was pushed out like he were puffing it out. His fingers were turned into claws and pushed into the spot below his chin, scratching and digging at the delicate skin there every time a tremor flew through him, which was practically every second. Little red dots began to well up beneath the delicate, manicured fingernails.

His legs crossed as he seized, but they didn't move at such a violent speed. Instead, they rapidly relaxed and then contracted again. It looked like his whole body were contacting and relaxing at the same time, jerking him up and then relaxing before it repeated the whole cycle again.

Finn counted carefully, his eyes on his wristwatch. When the clock hit 2 minutes and 32 seconds, Finn vaguely heard Sue Slyvester enter the room. Instead of screaming at them all, however, she knelt down at Kurt's head and turned to Finn.

"How long has he been seizing?"

"2 minutes and 40 seconds," he grunted out, braving a small glance up at her. He wasn't surprised to see the fear and the emotion in her eyes; she'd always said that Kurt was her favorite for a good reason. He knew what her sister went through when she had been alive. Plus, he was a damn good singer.

"He had a small partial right before this one though, like two minutes. He blinked awake for a few minutes and then he started seizing again," Finn explained. His eyes were right back on the watch. "If it hits 5 minutes, we have to call an ambulance, and then Burt. In that order."

Kurt make a gurgling-gasping noise that made Santana wince. Then it happened again, and then it stopped. Kurt's lips began to go a slight dusky blue color, and Sue glanced up as Rachel let out another scream.

"Shut up!" she growled. Rachel shut her mouth and threw her hand over her mouth.

Four minutes and 43 seconds since the start of the episode, Kurt's body relaxed and be wheezed out a breath. Then, he sucked in a huge gulp of air. His head lulled to the side, chest heaving heavily as Mr. Schue removed his hand from under his head.

"Four minutes, 43 seconds," Finn breathed out in relief. He fell onto his rear end, shaking heavily. He'd never been so scared. Finn looked down at his little brother and pressed his hand against his mouth. God, that had been absolutely horrible.

He had about three seconds of silence before Rachel and Blaine were on him, speaking like they were rabid. Finn wanted to growl at them, wrinkling his nose at what they said. He tried to block them out as he watched his little brother as he panted, catching his breath after he seized violently.

"I'm calling Burt," he said quietly as he pulled out his phone.

Coach Sylvester was taking Kurt's pulse as the boy slept. But a minute into her taking a pulse and a quick set of small vitals, the young man's head tossed back and he let out another strangled moan.

His hands crossed against his chest, wrists touching as his muscles activated again. Sue removed her hands immediately and put her hand under his head, protecting him as the young man quivered. His legs were crossed and bent at the knees, looking awkward and painful. Sue knew, deep in her mind, that these seizures were the most painful for the young Cheerio.

"Finn, scratch calling Burt. Call an ambulance. This is Status Epilepticus," Sue said urgently. Beneath her, Kurt began to kick and rock as the seizure became more and more active. He wheezed through the seizure once or twice before everything stopped dead, his chest no longer rising and falling. His limbs continued to move, shaking and trembling and flailing out as the messages to and from his brain wigged out.

"Come on, porcelain," Sue whispered. Though, she knew for a fact that the boy couldn't hear her. Not with such a violent seizure going on.

Santana was going to say something when she smelled it. It was completely unmistakable. She smelled it every time her kid brother had an accident. In the midst of his seizure, Kurt's bladder had let go and released all the urine it had held. Santana felt embarrassed for Kurt, though she knew that the release of urine was something that could happen due to the seizure.

Finn immediately ended the call he had been in, having been unable to get ahold of his step-father. He wanted to take Kurt's hand and hold it, much like Kurt had wanted to hold his father's hand through his heart attack. But he called 911 and kept himself from touching Kurt, not wanting to hurt him.

"Hold him down! Make him stop!" Blaine screamed, anger clear in his eyes. He was staring at Kurt with wide eyes.

"You don't hold someone down during a seizure, Hobbit!" Santana snarled. "It will hurt him if we do that. Sit back and do nothing, like you always do, Teen Gay."

Kurt made another wheezing noise, taking in a deep breath before he stopped again. Blaine's heart wrenched hard. But it could never hurt as much as Finn's did. He couldn't do anything for his brother, who was writhing on the floor and stuck in his third seizure of the day.

" _911, what's your emergency?"_ Came the smooth, even voice of the 911 operator.

"My brother's in Status Epilepticus. He's on his third seizure in a row and they keep getting more and more violent," Finn rushed out. "We need an ambulance at William McKinley High School's choir room."

" _The ambulance is on its way. What is your brother's name?"_ The man was writing down the information and relaying it to the ambulance drivers, who immediately began the 5-minute drive to the high school.

"Kurt, K-U-R-T, Hummel. H-U-M-M-E-L. He's 15 now. He has Uncontrolled, or Refractory Epilepsy. He doesn't have a definitive epilepsy syndrome. He's been seizing for close to 2 minutes in this seizure," Finn explained.

" _Okay. And what is your name?"_ the operator questioned. _"And can you send someone out to the front of the school to guide the paramedics in?"_

"I'm Finn Hudson. He's my step-brother. My mom married his dad," Finn explained, and then turned to Mercedes and Artie.

"You two go to the front of the school, guide the paramedics in!"

They shot out of the room like rockets after a final glance at Kurt, who was making slight grunting and groaning noises. Finn returned to the call after one glance at Sue, who had her eyes on her watch.

"We have two people going out to guide them. How long until they get here?"

They needed to call Burt. Burt would need to know about what was going on.

" _Any minute now. Finn, I'm going to click off now to give them a little more information. Stay calm and continue doing what you've been taught."_

Then the operator was gone, and Finn was left with a dial tone on his phone. He shot a quick message to Burt, trying not to look at Kurt right now. He couldn't watch another seizure. But he knew that he couldn't just let the others take care of this.

 **New Message To: Burt H.**

 **Kurt's in Status. Ambulance was called. He's had 3 without waking up. Third one is at 5 minutes, longest so far. Will keep updated on which hospital we go to.**

Then he slid his phone into his pocket and watched as Kurt's body relaxed again before he had a full-bodied shiver run through him. But Kurt's body went completely limp. Nothing moved. Kurt wasn't breathing.

Finn sat there for a moment, intent on watching to see if Kurt would take in a breath. He could do so on his own, but sometimes Kurt needed a bit of a helping hand.

Sue was the one to leap into action. She pounded the side of her fist in the middle of his chest. There was an immediate reaction. Kurt sucked in a breath and began to cough. Then he gently wheezed, bringing in small breaths through what felt like two small straws.

Every cough was wet, almost as if his lungs were filled with fluid.

"Let's roll him on his side," Sue said. She looked up at Santana, who took Kurt's legs as Sue secured his head and neck before they carefully rolled him.

"Hey, Man hands! Sweatshirt, now." Santana snapped her fingers at Rachel. Rachel, stunned, tugged the jacket off and handed it to Finn. Finn folded it and placed it under Kurt's head, listening as the younger teen coughed and hacked. Red appeared from his mouth, but it wasn't from his tongue. It kept coming every time Kurt hacked.

Kurt's eyes peered open finally as the coughing died away a bit. Immediately, Kurt knew. He knew what had happened. He'd had a seizure. In front of the whole glee club. He was going to die of embarrassment.

As soon as he got a little more sleep, that is.


	2. Chapter 2

When the ambulance finally arrived at McKinley High School, right in the middle of their club period, the school fell into chaos. Figgins stood, only able to stare as the boy in a wheelchair and the black girl guiding them to where they needed to be. Figgins felt a cold sweat coming on. It was probably the Hummel boy. He hadn't had a seizure during school in a long time, but he could remember a time when the Hummel boy had been having seizures so constantly that he hadn't been able to attend classes for almost a month.

He followed them, needing to see which parent he needed to call. He could only hope that it wasn't Mr. Hummel; they'd had a hell of a time with Burt Hummel when they tried to put Kurt in a special education class with an aide. Figgins definitely did not want to go another round with Hummel Sr.

Figgins could have screamed when he realized that yes, they were going for the school choir room. Then they entered the classroom to find the young teenager seizing violently, for what could only be one of multiple times if they were calling the paramedics.

"He came out of it for a few seconds," Finn explained as one of the paramedics moved him away. "Then he started seizing again. He's only 15. Fourth seizure so far. He has Refractory Epilepsy with no notifiable syndrome." He wanted to stay by his brother, but he backed away so that the paramedics could do what they needed.

"He was also coughing up red mucus the last time he was awake. He doesn't feel warm to the touch," Sue provided. She also backed away, standing next to Will. They all hovered as Figgins tried to clear out the room as much as he could.

The paramedics nodded, getting right to work. Kurt's body was stiff and trembling, almost as if he were being electrocuted. His arms crossed against his chest, his head thrown back to bare his neck, and his legs ram-rod straight. The trembling never stopped as Kurt's muscles, in what seemed to be coordinated groups, relaxed and then reengaged.

"How long has he been seizing?"

"Six minutes," Santana provided. "Frankenteen was too surprised by this seizure to start counting."

It wasn't said with malice, simply stated. Finn gave her a small glance, but found no anger or heat in her expression. There was only fear.

"What's he on?"

Finn looked up, shocked to see that the paramedic was rubbing his knuckles against Kurt's sternum.

"No pain response. Unresponsive Level of Consciousness. Kid, what is he on for his seizures?"

Finn grabbed Kurt's medical necklace out of his pocket; he'd grabbed it off Kurt's neck almost as soon as he realized that his brother was seizing. He read it off quickly, hands shaking.

"Onfi, Lamictal, Prednisone, and Epilim. He's had seizures since he was 6. No other medications."

The female paramedic nodded and turned to her partner, pointing to Kurt's lips. He was slightly cyanotic.

"Non-rebreather, 10 liters to start. I'll get it, secure his airway."

James had to admit, the kid's brother had done a pretty good job of securing the area as soon as he realized his brother was really seizing. All of the dangerous items like chairs, music stands, and hard objects had either been moved out of the way or covered with something soft in case Kurt moved and hit his head. He'd even remembered to remove the medical alert necklace.

He turned to his patient and quickly made sure that the boy was able to breathe. He wrinkled his nose and clicked his tongue when he realized that there were thick secretions in the teen's mouth. None of it looked particularly bloody, but there were red spots in the boy's mouth that came from clenching his jaw and biting down.

"Airway is slightly closed off, but could be head positioning. I'm going to readjust his head and neck. I don't really want to put in an airway if we don't have to," James decided.

"Less is more," Sarah agreed, and continued to set up the oxygen. She watched carefully as James frowned as he felt that the young teen was warm and sweaty, but continued to adjust the boy's head positioning. They heard a rushed wheeze of air as the boy's airway was opened, and James nodded. He picked his head up to glance at Sarah.

"Airway is clear, but with increased secretions. I'm going to suction. Got the O2 ready?"

She nodded to James and held up the non-rebreather. Quickly, they gave Kurt some extra oxygen and then slid the suction catheter in, managing to get most of it. It took a few tries, of course, as Kurt was still below 18 and couldn't be suctioned for more than 5 seconds at a time.

As soon as James was finished clearing everything, they slid the non-rebreather mask onto the boy's face, securing the strap behind his head, and watched as the minutes ticked on and on. The paramedics managed to gain IV access and gave Kurt a dose of Lorazepam via the IV.

Finn watched as his brother, who hadn't fully surfaced for over 30 minutes by now, finally stopped seizing and his eyes slid open thirty seconds after the end of the seizure.

"Kurt? My name is James, can you tell me where you are?" the paramedic asked, putting his face into Kurt's line of sight.

Kurt wrinkled his nose and closed his eyes, looking fully exhausted. He puffed out a breath and tried to bring himself out of his exhausted fugue state.

"Choir room," Kurt finally pushed out. "McKinley. Hell on Earth."

James nodded, a smile on his face. He barked out a tiny laugh as he heard the boy say 'Hell on Earth.'

"Okay, Kurt. I've got your brother and your friends here with me. This is Sarah, we're going to take you to the ER for some more treatment. You've had four seizures and moved into a status state before we got here."

James had found that it was best to give the patients all the information, even if they weren't fully aware yet. Kurt would be exhausted from the IV Lorazepam, but they needed to try and keep him as alert and oriented as they could as the boy came out of his postictal state.

There were a few moments of silence, as the young teen took everything in. Then he pulled his eyes open and stared the paramedic in the eyes.

"Can Finn come? Call my dad."

James turned back and looked to Finn, giving him the nod that the young man could come closer. Finn was immediately standing by his brother as Sarah hooked him up on the portable oxygen at a higher level.

"I called Burt. Then I sent him a text," Finn chattered. As they did so, James gave Sarah the nod and they were off to the ambulance, Kurt hooked up to monitors and tubes and settled on the gurney, Finn holding one hand and walking beside them to keep his brother calm.

NOTES:

 **Postictal State-** State after a seizure where patients come out of their seizure. It's sometimes referred to as the 'Calming State' as your brains and the neurons that were previously firing are able to stop. Postictal States can last 5-30 minutes, normally. (Sometimes more in larger seizures. Can cause severe migraines, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. **  
**

 **Non-Rebreather-** A type of oxygen mask. People sometimes remember it as the 'Bagged mask'. It has a bag under the mask that keeps you from rebreathing CO2 (Carbon dioxide) as you receive oxygen treatment.

 **Status Epilipeticus (Mentioned in Ch 1 )-** A 'type' (And I use that word very lightly) of seizure state characterized by a seizure lasting 30 minutes or more OR two seizures with no regaining of this fic, Kurt had several seizures back to back. That is indicative of a Status Epilepticus state, where your mind doesn't pull you out of a seizure or is stuck in a seizure cycle for whatever reason. In Kurt, it was most likely his change of medication. Status Epilepticus is EXTREMELY dangerous, as your mind doesn't have a chance to break out of the seizures and simply continues on.


	3. Chapter 3

Finn remembered the first seizure he'd ever witnessed for Kurt. It was a week or two after the basement incident. Carole had invited Kurt and Burt to the Saturday market, and surprisingly, Burt had agreed. The other half of their makeshift family/relationship hadn't agreed to do anything for at least the last two weeks. Finn thought it must have been because of the whole faggy incident, but he knew better now.

Kurt had been quiet. He'd zone out a lot, losing the conversation and jumping back into where he'd left off suddenly. Burt didn't seem to be phased, simply would wrap an arm around his son and continue the conversation for him as if he knew what his so would have said.

They were walking out when Kurt began to slow down, suddenly coming to a stop and blinking hard. Burt was standing next to him in a split second, staring at the young teen carefully. He had a watch on, which he watched carefully. Before fifteen seconds had even gone by, Kurt was blinking and shaking his head, looking dazed. That was a longer one than had been before. Burt had his arm wrapped around his son's shoulders, almost holding him up.

"Alright, let's get home, shall we?"

Kurt looked up at his dad and blinked, lost. Then an unusual look of frustration washed over him and he nodded, passing his dad's car keys over.

"Yeah. Carole, thanks for bringing us. It was a great day." Kurt looked fully drained and he and Burt quickly left after hugging Carole and Burt giving Finn a pat on the shoulder.

Finn hadn't known it at the time, as Burt and Kurt hadn't informed Finn and Carole about Kurt's seizures for another two weeks, but he'd just witnessed his first full seizure.

-.-.-.-

The door to the ambulance slammed open as soon as it was safe enough to do so, and one of the paramedics hopped out in front of the St. Ormond Children's Hospital. She began to pull the gurney out, shouting things as she went.

"Kurt Hummel, 15, Status Post Status Epilepticus. A dose of Lorazepam on the way. Fluids wide open, 20 gauge in the right wrist, another twenty in the left forearm. Managed to get a very vague response about twenty minutes ago, when he was awake, but since lapsed into unconsciousness. 4 seizures back-to-back. This is his brother."

Finn hopped out, holding Kurt's hand. He hadn't had another seizure yet, but frankly, Finn was expecting another one to happen any second now, even though Kurt had gotten medication in route.

"He vomited and lapsed right into unconsciousness almost immediately. Father should be in the waiting room already."

"I'm his neurologist," someone shouted and waved their gloved hand. "Trauma one, please."

Finn was assaulted with the flurry of movement as Kurt was pushed into a room and he was pushed out, given to a nurse, and then passed off to Burt.

-.-.-

Dr. Sullivan removed one of his gloves and quickly jotted something down on a chart. He glanced over to where his patient lay, turned on his side and carefully propped up. Now on his left side, Kurt had a pillow angled under his head and another against his chest, with a pillow between his knees, and then one stuffed behind his back to keep him propped up. He wanted to laugh when he noticed that Kurt was gripping at the seizure guards with one hand, as if he were trying to tug it down and away from the railings on his bed.

One of the nurses – Dr. Sullivan knew he should know her name, but he didn't – adjusted Kurt's Nasal Cannula before double-checking the leads into the rolling monitor. Kurt's SPO2 was still resting in the mid-to-high 80's, and if it persisted, they'd be forced to move him over to an OxyMask. Soon, the unnamed nurse left, leaving on Dr. Sullivan and Nurse Rosa with Kurt.

Nurse Rosa – one of the only Neuro ICU nurses that Dr. Sullivan would allow to set up an EEG correctly – was cleaning up around the room, and preparing to get a different IV access. The last IV had blown, and if they couldn't get more access soon, they'd be forced to set Kurt up with a port. Dr. Sullivan didn't want to do it to the poor kid, but he would if his hand was forced.

"Rosa? I'm going to get an EEG set up," Dr. Sullivan said as he pulled on a fresh set of gloves. "I'll write out the orders, but I want Q2 hour checks, with a sitter during the night, or when his father leaves. Burt will be able to be here pretty much 24/7, but if this turns into more than an observation stay, he's going to need help. As is, Kurt's a high risk because he had the spinal tap. "

"Not a problem, Dr. Sullivan," came her right Hispanic accent. She cleaned off a spot in his forearm and, without glancing up, continued to speak.

"I'm going with an 18 into his right forearm. Only vein I can get right now."

"Try it. If we can't get it, then we'll be forced to page Interventional Radiology, maybe even have to go with a central line or a port," he breathed out in a sigh.

Rosa nodded and, after finding the right spot, advanced with the needle. It slid into Kurt's arm without him stirring, and Rosa quickly got a flash of blood fill up the canister. She pulled out the sharp part of the IV port, and screwed in a connection. She quickly flushed the IV with saline before she nodded to Dr. Sullivan.

"I have access," she said as she secured the IV.

"What his temp? IS he still running low?" Dr. Sullivan asked as he glued on another lead. Kurt would kill him for messing up his hair with the glue, but he'd deal.

Rosa ran the temporal scanner over Kurt's forehead murmured something to herself.

" _Pobre niño_ ," she murmured, then spoke louder. "96.3. I'll get him some warm blankets. You want warm saline?"

Dr. Sullivan nodded as he finished gluing down the last lead. Then he pulled a wrap over Kurt's head, making sure the leads were really secure, and wouldn't move if Kurt moved his head. Rosa ran out to get warmed saline and a few warm blankets. She draped the warm blankets over Kurt's body, watching as the slight furrow in Kurt's brow released with the application of the warm blankets.

When both were finished, Rosa looked up at Dr. Sullivan.

"Do you mind going to get Papa Bear from the waiting room?" Dr. Sullivan asked, though it came out as a hopeful suggestion. Burt always had a million questions, and he never liked answering them when they were in the hallways. HIPAA was a bitch.

Rosa laughed and waved him off.

"Yes, I will get our papa bear. But you owe me, Dr. Sullivan," she said as she cleaned up.

"I will buy you as much coffee as you can take. Or I can take you to lunch."

"I think I'll take you up on the coffee. I'm working a double tonight, and I double back here 8 hours after I get off. You buy me three cups, double shot, we're even!" she called as she started down the hall of the Neuro ICU.

Dr. Sullivan smiled as he turned back to Kurt. Maybe someday they'd managed to get a meal together. Today was not that day. Instead he shook his head and returned to his work. He made sure all the EEG leads were correct, and then made a quick read of the EEG, wondering which brain waves Kurt was laying in. A Delta Waveform jumped at him, and he quickly nodded. He'd sedated Kurt as deep as he safely could, wanting the young man to sleep for a while, and then wake on his own naturally.

Nodding to himself, Dr. Sullivan took out his tablet. He tapped onto Kurt's chart and blew out a sigh. He began to read where he had left off, and then he began to type. He typed out everything that had been done to treat Kurt so far, noting the catheterization, the Lumbar Puncture, how he was led to notice it was a true status episode, and wrote out new orders for his treatment.

Dr. Sullivan then sighed as he read the labs. It looked like Kurt was, in fact, taking his medication like ordered. Kurt's metabolic panel showed signs of him sticking to the Ketogenic Diet – Actually following it to a T, in fact.

Was this refractory Epilepsy? Or was he looking at an undiagnosed epilepsy syndrome? Kurt had suffered at least 6 noticeable seizures, but how many had he had before they realized he was having seizures?

Then there was the bruising on Kurt's body to think about. Dr. Sullivan knew for a fact that Burt Hummel would never abuse his son, but there was so much bruising that there had to be something going on. Dr. Sullivan was no stranger to bullying, and he knew Kurt wasn't either. But if there was actual pain being dished out – pain from a physical attack – then he knew that he would have to step in.

Kurt was probably hiding how much this was affecting him, because Dr. Sullivan knew that Burt would never let his son go somewhere where he'd be hurt. For god's sake, the man made Kurt wear a special monitor at night to make sure that he didn't die of SUDEP during the night.

Feeling his head begin to pound with a headache, Dr. Sullivan exited out of his tablet and then closed it down with a small sigh. He'd figure it out after he faced down with Papa Bear Burt Hummel, who would be on edge due to his son being in the hospital – again.

-.-.-.-

Nurse Rosa was so getting more than coffee out of this. So getting more than coffee. If she knew that she'd have to deal with New Directions, then she wouldn't have taken the job. In fact, Rosa wanted to run back up to the sixth floor and make Dr. Sullivan go deal with them.

She stared down at Rachel Berry, the current bane of her existence. Normally it was a patient or patient's parent, not someone of only 'friend' relations.

"Kurt is our best friend! We need him for regionals. If you can't tell us that he will be okay for regionals, we'll have to find a better nurse!" she squeaked. Rosa just looked at her before glancing up at Burt, who just looked disgusted.

"Listen, Chica. I cannot tell you anything about your friend. But he can. If he decides. Right now, though, his son needs him. Burt, are you ready?"

Burt grabbed his sweatshirt and ballcap before he nodded to Rosa.

"Let's go. Finn, Carole, you coming up?"

Carole already had her purse in her hand, and Finn was right there beside his mother, ready to go see his step brother.

"You kids go home. Kurt is fine," Burt said gruffly, sounding like he simply wanted this whole mess to go away.

"No!" Blaine blurted out, his hands coming up in an angry motion. Burt raised an eyebrow.

"We have a right to know how Kurt is doing! He _lied_ to us!"

Burt had to use an immense amount of self-control in order to not strangle the kid in front of him. Because that's what Blaine was – he was a kid who acted like he'd had his favorite toy taken away from him.

"Blaine Anderson, you need to get out of my face. You, of all people, are one of my least favorite persons in the world, because you broke my son's heart. You cheated on him with someone he despised, and that person went out of his way to make Kurt's life hell for a few weeks. And you kissed Rachel Berry. You are not my son's boyfriend. Rachel, new Directions, the only people I want here right now is Finn, Santana, Britney, Artie, and Mike. The rest of you clear out and go home. My kid is in the hospital and he needs quiet. Go!"

People immediately began to evacuate the area. Within a minute, the people that Burt wanted gone, were gone. Britney looked up at Burt, her arms crossed.

"Can we stay and see Kurt after you talk to the doctor?" Santana asked. She had an arm wrapped around Britney's shoulders, comforting the girl even as she maintained her 'Head Bitch in Charge' persona.

"Yes. You guys, come up with us. You can sit in the waiting room."

They quickly headed up to the fifth floor, where the two groups branched off. Burt, Finn, and Carole went to the room, while Santana, Britney, Mike, and Artie went into the waiting room.

"Why them?" Finn asked with a furrow to his brow. He didn't think that the four of them were that tight with Kurt, but then again, he wasn't either.

"Santana and Britney fought for him to become a cheerio, even though Sue was hesitant to allow him onto the team," Burt explained. "And Artie and Mike have been friends with Kurt since he was in third grade. They're not too close at school, but anytime they get together, it's like they've never been apart."

Finn nodded slowly as they entered the room. There was a sign on the door as they walked in, notating the reason why Kurt was there, whether he was a DNR or Full Code, and his age. Finn, surprisingly, wasn't too affected by the sign this time. The first time that Kurt had ended up in the Neuro ICU, he hadn't been able to cross the doorway because of how scary it looked.

Kurt was still on his left side, attached to the EEG and there was now an oxygen mask on his face. Dr. Sullivan stood at the end of Kurt's bed, typing on a tablet as he dictated his orders into the Medact. A nurse was bustling around the room, getting a set of vitals and emptying Kurt's catheter.

"Ann, I'm ordering a portable chest X-ray. I just want to check for any aspiration. He sounds a little gurgly, but I don't want him moved, bring the machine in. He's allowed visitors if Burt allows them in," Dr. Sullivan ordered. "If he doesn't want a select person in the room, we don't let them. Kurt needs rest. He's still showing seizure activity in the EEG that I reviewed."

"Sounds perfect," Ann said. She looked up to see the three family members file in and try to make themselves small as the nurse ran around the room.

"I'll make that easy for you. Carole, Finn, Mike, Britney, Santana, and Artie are the only ones allowed in. And Sue Sylvester, but she's a given," Burt said. Dr. Sullivan whipped around, the tablet still in hand. He nodded to Burt and waved his pointed finger between Ann, Rosa, and Burt.

"You snuck in this time," he said. Burt nodded slowly.

"After I busted in guns blazing and accidentally sent Kurt into a seizure that one time, I don't think I'll ever not sneak into the room again," he commented dryly.

Burt took a few steps towards Kurt, and laid his hand on his son's. The boy slumbered, not at all disturbed by his father's entrance. Though, the boy did relax once his father had snuck into the room.

"How's my kid?" Burt asked, moving his hand to stroke his son's cheek. Kurt's hand moved up to his face and took his father's hand in his, moving their embraced hands to his chest to hold. Burt smiled a little and sat on the edge of the bed.

"He's resting now, which is all we can do until he begins to wake up and come out of the postictal state. As you know, Kurt can get aggressive when he's postictal, so we normally sedate him and load him up with medication to stop the seizure cycles. What we need to find out is why he's still having seizures. Has he been nauseated more than usual?"

Burt sighed and took a minute to think.

"He's mentioned being nauseous while at school, but never to the point that he would throw up," Finn said. "Mostly he'd mention it at school, and then he'd get dizzy. But after that, he would sit down for a while, and usually he'd have one of his freezing things, and sometimes one hand would twitch, like his jerking stuff. But then he'd wake back up and continue with what he was doing."

Dr. Sullivan nodded, letting out a sigh. Partials, then. While Kurt was used to having partials, he knew that no one enjoyed seizures. They seemed to be one of the worst for Kurt, as they always triggered bigger seizures. That was how the massive seizures normally occurred.

"Well, I don't want to adjust his medication dosage, because it hasn't had time to work. But I want him on an EEG for at least tonight, maybe have a few different EEG's. Maybe do a sleep-deprived EEG." Dr. Sullivan scratched the back of his head before he just sighed and shook his head.

"Let's just get him stabilized first. He's going to sleep deeply for a while. We placed a catheter because of how unresponsive he was in the ER. He awoke briefly while on his way up, but we've dosed him up to keep the Status state from returning. But he needs to rest. I don't want anyone else that may work him up, alright? I know Kurt is a bit of a diva sometimes, but we have got to keep him calm and resting. One Status state is difficult enough – this is the third one in that many months."

Burt nodded and gave his son's hand a small squeeze. God, he was so little. It seemed like he got littler each time Burt saw him in a bed like this. The first time he'd seen Kurt like this had been absolutely heart wrenching.

 _Kurt had been at dance – his mother had signed him up when he was five, and Burt couldn't take away something his son loved, no matter how much he detested the dance recitals – when it happened. Burt was sitting in the hallway, waiting to see his son. Kurt stumbled out of the dance room, and with glazed eyes, collapsed into his father's lap. At 6, the boy was about half of his father's side, but he managed to land himself smack dab in his father's lap._

 _It wasn't unusual for his son to wear himself out at dance. It seemed like it took more and more energy to keep up with every new move or dance style. Burt simply lifted his son into his arms, settling the light six-year-old into his hip as he stood._

" _How was dance, bud?" Burt asked as he shifted Kurt into a more comfortable situation. Kurt buried his head in his father's neck, his right hand working to try and grasp at the front of his father's shirt. Then it dropped and laid limp._

 _Burt gently shook his son, trying to get his son to react. Then he felt something hitting his stomach, and looked down._

 _Kurt's right hand was shaking and twitching, and he made a slight whining noise. Then he fell still again. His body went completely limp, his head rolling off from where he had pushed it into his father's neck. Kurt's chin fell onto his chest, and he went to slip out of his father's arms, completely unconscious._

 _Burt caught him and gently laid the boy against his chest, gently calling for help. Moments later, he lost his grip on his son as the boy's body seized up, his arms curling against his chest as he fell into what would later be diagnosed as a Tonic-Clonic, or Grand Mal, Seizure._

 _The rest of the day flew by like a blur for Burt, ending with Burt holding his son as the boy underwent an EEG, though he fought and spit at the fact that he had to have glue put in his hair._

Burt fought the memories back, and looked down at his boy. Then he looked up at Dr. Sullivan.

"Whatever you want to do is fine by me," he said, gently stroking Kurt's cheek. His hand was still being held captive by his son's tight grip. Even though he was sedated, Kurt had the tightest grip on his father's hand, and he never let go.

"You got it, Burt. For now, let's let him rest. I'll allow you guys to stay, but no one else today, alright? He's going to be out until noon or so tomorrow," Dr. Sullivan dictated.

Dr. Sullivan did one more once-over with the machines and the IV Pole before he left, giving Burt a pat on the shoulder.

Once they were alone in the room, the other two gravitated toward sitting by Kurt's bedside. Burt let out a sigh as he tried to calm down. His son was safe. He was in the hospital and he was safe now.

But how much of a reprieve would they get before the next seizure took Kurt?


	4. Chapter 4

**Just an interlude like chapter. I feel bad about how long it takes me to get chapters out, and I wanted to give you guys a little bit of family love / family comfort time.**

 **So, this chapter is kind of based off of one of my hospital visits. I had to have a spinal fusion for my scoliosis when I was 12, and it took a little bit of a rougher turn when they realized I had a more severe curve than they believed I had (They believed it was around 60. It ended up being a few degrees off of 100 and I also had a comp curve that was more severe).**

 **On that note, I want to mention that chapters may be coming out slower and slower than they may have been. I'm going into finals season and I'm also dealing with neuropathy and severe migraines, and have to go to Neurology, which one happen until April, unfortunately. But I am writing whenever I can.**

 **Enjoy!**

When Kurt began to come to again, it was to his father sitting at his bedside, holding his hand and reading a book. The man had pulled a recliner to Kurt's bedside and was right up against his side rail. Kurt had pulled his hand close to his chest, and from the death grip he'd had on it, Kurt figured it had been a good six or so hours since he last woke.

He let out a groan at how positively dry his mouth was. His father's head snapped up from his book and looked at Kurt, gauging just how awake his son was. There was a good possibility that Kurt would fall back asleep if they let him.

"Kurt, kid, you with us?" Burt asked, folding the ear of the page and closing the book. Kurt tried to focus in on the title, but it only served to make his head pound.

He let out a small moan as the pounding hit him, but Kurt managed to stuff it down a moment later. His whole body ached, all the lactic acid in his muscles having yet to disperse. Kurt lied still and grit his teeth together tightly. But he kept his eyes open, focusing on his dad's hand and his face.

"Daaad," the boy whispered. He hacked as something in his lungs gurgled. Burt was quick to sit the head of the bed up above 50 degrees, standing up so that he could remain in his son's line of sight.

Kurt managed to look around and see what was going on in the room. It was dark out, so it was probably night. Finn lay sprawled out in one of the bench-like seats, arms thrown out and a comforter draped around his body. Carole slept in another recliner, on Kurt's other side. He quickly realized that she was holding his other hand, and he was clutching it just as tightly as she was.

 _Seizures?_ He thought as he tried to process what had led him here. Kurt looked over to his dad, who stroked some hair off of Kurt's sweat-soaked forehead.

"Still running a temp there, bud," Burt whispered as he squeezed his boy's hand. Kurt blinked at him, confusion marring his expression. Burt just rubbed his thumb over the back of his son's hand, waiting for him to either wake up more, or fall back into sleep.

Kurt's eyes slipped closed just seconds after his father began to rub. But as Burt stood, Kurt's eyes slammed open, and he gripped his father's hand tighter. Burt smiled and gently squeezed the boy's hand.

"I'm not going anywhere, scooter. Just relax, kiddo," Burt whispered. He took down the sides of the bed with one smooth move of his free hand. Burt then sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Kurt's sweat-soaked hair back. Kurt coughed and, finally realizing that he had a nasal cannula on, he tried to raise his free hand and bat it off his face.

"Kurt, buddy, please just leave that alone," Burt whispered as Kurt's hand came up to tug the oxygen off. "I was wonder when you'd start doing that, scooter. I knew you'd do that."

The last little bit came as a breath of relief. While drugged and exhausted, Kurt was still acting like himself.

Even though he'd been told not to, Kurt continued to try and pull the nasal cannula off his face. Burt caught his free hand and held it, pulling it away from Kurt's face. Kurt puffed his cheeks out as he blew out a sigh of frustration. Burt chuckled, happy that, even when he felt horrible, his son could show just how much of a Diva he really was.

Kurt fixed his eyes on his father's face as Burt held his hands and, subsequently, keeping him from pulling off the oxygen. The younger Hummel had a frown set on his face, but he laid his head back down on the pillows, allowing his father to just hold his hands as he tried to stay awake.

"They stayed," Kurt whispered after a long stretch of silence. He threw his eyes over to Carole and then looked to Finn, who was sleeping on the other side of the room. His voice was rough and, when he felt something catch in his lungs, he began to cough again.

Carole shifted on his other side as Burt helped his son sit up a little, and wiped away the thick mucus secretions that Kurt had hacked up. Kurt flopped back in the bed, and Burt smiled. Kurt kept a hold on his father's hand, gripping at it tightly as he held it against his chest.

"Of course they did, Scooter. The doctors and the nurses couldn't keep them out of the room."

Kurt looked rather surprised, and Burt just pressed a gentle kiss to his son's forehead.

"Get some rest, kiddo. You look exhausted."

Kurt simply let his eyes slide closed. When Burt was fairly certain that his son was asleep, he let go of one of Kurt's hand, the one that had been reaching to remove the oxygen. He sat back in his chair, sighing as he glanced over to his book. He moved to get it, and then returned to his son. When he saw Kurt, he barked out a laugh.

Kurt had his eyes wide open, and had tugged his nasal cannula off his face. Then his eyes slid shut, all while Burt was watching, and drifted off to sleep now that he wasn't being bothered by the nasal cannula.


	5. Chapter 5

Kurt held Finn's hand tightly, even as he slipped into blissful sleep. After a sleep deprived EEG, Finn had expected his brother to drop off much sooner than he did. But Kurt had managed to stay awake much longer than they thought he would, though he'd been grumpy, weepy, and just generally upset all afternoon. Kurt had been awake all through the sleep-deprived EEG, though he did have multiple seizures during the test, two Partials and a few complex Absence, about twenty minutes before they ended the sleep-deprived EEG.

Finn looked at his brother, at where their hands touched. Kurt held Finn's hand in a death grip, both hands clutching at his brother's with all his might, even as he slept.

A few months ago, Finn would have stared at Kurt and left, not even worrying about how it would affect the younger teen. Now, Finn would move the world for his step-brother, and Kurt seemed to know it too. Ever since the Karofsky incident and the wedding, Finn had really started to treat Kurt like his brother, no matter what anyone on the team said or what rumors went around the school.

Finn shifted in his chair, trying to reach the lever that would pick the leg rest up. He managed to get about halfway through the motion when he accidentally tugged at their clasped hands, causing Kurt to grip at Finn even tighter.

"Sorry, Kurt," Finn whispered, as if Kurt could hear him. "Just trying to get comfortable, bud."

He managed to get the leg rests up, and he settled in. His phone charger sat in his lap, ready for whenever he needed it. Finn didn't expect to get a whole lot of sleep tonight, not with how Kurt often woke up, thoroughly confused.

As he sat there, Finn thought about how much had changed in the past year. Finn's mom had fallen in love with Kurt's Dad, and then they'd gotten married. But Finn mostly thought about how Kurt had all these signs of weird activity – seizures or not – throughout school and Glee, but hadn't said a word. He simply suffered in silence.

Finn smiled as a thought came to mind. He remembered when Kurt had walked up to him, looking nervous as he did, and asked if Finn could get him onto the football team. Coach Tanaka had been so against it for the first hour or two, but as soon as he realized that damn, could Kurt kick, the younger teen was on the team. It made sense, now, that Tanaka hadn't put Kurt on the field to actually play, because people with epilepsy aren't normally allowed to play sports like football, where they could get hurt or have a seizure in the middle of the game.

But Kurt hadn't been thinking about that, Finn knew. Kurt had been thinking about how he needed to make his dad proud, to be the perfect son and forget the epilepsy.

Finn couldn't begin to fathom how difficult it must have been for Burt when Kurt began to have seizures; how difficult it must have been for Kurt and for his mother too. Finn had heard the story about Kurt's first recognizable seizure. He'd been at dance, his mother in the ICU. In the waiting area, Kurt had suffered a grand mal seizure and had been sent to the hospital, but not the same one his mother had been in. Burt had spent the next three weeks shuffling between Kurt, Kurt's appointments, and his dying wife.

Kurt let out a small sigh, his head tipping towards his brother. It jerked Finn out of his own head, and he watched as his brother shifted. Kurt moved ever so slightly every few seconds, seeming to struggle with the pain that moving elicited. His head rested on his right shoulder and, though his breathing was still labored and uneven, Kurt looked peaceful.

Finn took a few minutes to just look at his brother, to really look at the younger teen.

Kurt's face was so pale, like it always was. But there was a little bit of color to his face, though Finn knew that it was only from the high fever Kurt had.

Then there was the nasal cannula, pushing 4 liters of oxygen into Kurt's nose a minute. It was taped down to Kurt's cheeks with the same type of tape they used for IV's. Kurt had broken three nasal cannulas in the last 24 hours, and he thought that Nurse Rosa was at her wits end with Kurt now.

There was sweat all over Kurt's face, and a good amount of it had collected at the nape of his neck. Finn had been wiping off as much of it as he could, but it was collecting faster than he could wipe it away.

Finn's eyes looked up at the crown of Kurt's head, seeing the glue and the various wires that had been placed for an EEG. He'd never actually seen an EEG before this hospital visit. Burt often stayed with Kurt, because Finn normally had school and Carole worked at the hospital in 12-hour shifts four days of the week.

Everyone had taken time off to be with Kurt this time.

Kurt let out a groan, the little crinkle between his eyes appearing as Kurt frowned in his sleep. Finn immediately put his cell phone on the bedside table and sat up. The leg rest folded back down and Finn leaned over the side of Kurt's bed.

"It's alright, Kurt. Finn's here. Your dad's at home, I'm watching out for him, just like I promised," Finn reassured. He squeezed Kurt's hand with his own, and Kurt's body relaxed slowly.

Finn couldn't believe he had a step-brother sometimes. But at the same time, he loved it. He had someone he could look out for, and someone who looked out for him. And to be honest, Kurt was one of the best brother's Finn could have had, no matter how bitchy he became.

"I've got ya, Kurt. You just rest. Finn's on the job," Finn whispered. He plugged his phone in and closed his eyes, drifting off to dreamland.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt came to – properly came to, this time – when Dr. Sullivan was in the room. He blinked blearily and, though he was still groggy, was able to pick out that his father had somehow escaped his hand holding.

Dr. Sullivan, quick to realize that his patient was alert, immediately turned to the young man.

"Hey, Kurt, how are you feeling?" he asked. His eyes flicked up to the monitors, noticing that Kurt's heartrate, while high, was lower than it had been. And his blood pressure was great this time around, not insanely high like when he had come in.

Kurt blinked as he took in his surroundings. Finn was sitting in the corner, seemingly working on homework and chomping away at a slice of – shiver – hospital pizza. Carole stood at his left side, holding a cup of coffee. His father sat on the edge of his bed, now looking at Kurt.

"I have a catheter," Kurt commented, rather distractedly. He brought one hand up absently, and scratched his nose before starting to try and tug the oxygen tubing away from his face. Burt took his son's hand and held it as soon as he saw Kurt touch the nasal cannula. The boy had already broken three oxygen cannulas in the last two days, and they didn't need to make it four.

Dr. Sullivan laughed and nodded, lifting the blankets at Kurt's feet. He did a quick response test with a pen, and nodded when Kurt reacted correctly, though a bit slowly.

"Yeah, Kurt. You, my friend, always get one if you go into status," he said with a smile. "You retain urine and after that UTI when you were 7, I didn't think you wanted to go without one. We'll get it out just as soon as we can, but not a second before. How are you feeling?"

Kurt took a moment to take stock of his body, and realized that his head was aching and pounding, much like the way that it did before a seizure.

"'m tired," he murmured, eyes fluttering shut for just a moment. He opened them, though it took a lot of effort.

"My head hurts, 'n I'm nauseous."

Dr. Sullivan nodded and walked over to check Kurt's IV and the IV pole, which was running fluids and, in about a half-hour, a slew broad-spectrum antibiotics. As he did so, Kurt began to cough heavily, his body curling around his abdomen. Immediately, Dr. Sullivan grabbed a kidney basin and thrusted it under Kurt's chin, catching most of the thick phlegm that had accumulated in Kurt's lungs.

"Just cough it out, Kurt. You've got pneumonia," Dr. Sullivan said. Kurt shook his head, struggling to take in a good, useful breath of air. He continued to cough, and his hand came up to try and pull away the nasal cannula that was jammed under his nose.

Dr. Sullivan caught his hand, and quickly helped to settle Kurt back against the bed. Burt squeezed his hand as his son struggled to bring in good breaths.

Kurt coughed into his free hand, and Dr. Sullivan raised the bed so that the head was above 40 degrees.

"Do you feel short of breath? Chest pain?" Dr. Sullivan questioned. Kurt, his coughing fit beginning to wind down, simply fixed him with a look of pure disdain.

Dr. Sullivan laughed a little when he saw the look.

"Yeah, you're gonna be fine. Already fixing me with that glare. But is there any deep pain? Are you short of breath now that you can breathe?"

Kurt shook his head and Burt grinned at his son's tenacity. Finn leaned on Kurt's bed as he joined the conversation, more than happy to put his homework away.

"So I've got Pneumonia?" Kurt questioned. "That cause the seizures?"

Dr. Sullivan shook his head around the same time that Nurse Rosa came in, holding a few syringes full of various medications. Two for pain, one with a large dose of lorazepam, one syringe full of Zofran for nausea, one filled with Phenergan for nausea, and a series of pills for his normal medications. In the next hand, she held another one dose of each of his IV Antibiotics, which would run for an hour simultaneously.

"You aspirated either during the status, or you already had a nasty cold that was beginning to settle. Either way, you've got pneumonia now and it's in both lungs. Maybe you had walking pneumonia – it can be common in people your age and of your activity level."

Kurt groaned, his eyes falling shut for a few minutes. His body relaxed against the bed as he tried to keep his anger from taking control. Kurt took a few minutes to calm himself and then opened his eyes. No one had said anything in the meantime, and he broke the silence.

"How soon can I get out of here? We have …" Kurt trailed off, struggling to find the right word. He, unfortunately, often lost words and had what he called 'seizure fog', where he was in a foggy state. It was much like the 'Fibro Fog' that people with Fibromyalgia complained about.

"When you get out of here is determined by when you are able to function and we can make sure that you're not going to go into status again. And I want to clear up that pneumonia of yours before anything else, because you've had it so many times."

Kurt puffed out a breath of frustration as Nurse Rosa finished hooking up the antibiotic medications, started those, and then held out the cup full of pills.

"Alright, Kurt. We have the Prednisone, Lamictal, Onfi, and Epilim. I also have antibiotics that I am running, and I have Zofran, Phenergan, Lorazepam, a dose of Morphine, and a dose of Lorazepam in there. You wanna swallow those pills, chico? And then we'll get these IV meds in you," Rosa said. She was smiling brightly, even though she was seeing Kurt Hummel, one of her favorite patients, in the Neuro ICU again.

Kurt took the cup, hand shaking the whole time. The pills clacked together violently as he did so, but Kurt tipped them into his mouth and then took the water cup, taking a deep drink and then swallowing. Then he passed the water to his father, his arm aching as it struggled to hold up against the strain of a simple water cup.

"Eres la luz en este infierno," Kurt mumbled to her. "Al menos sacarás mi catéter." ("You are a light in this Hell. At least you take out my catheter.")

Rosa laughed, shaking her head as she made sure the IV pump was on hold. She gathered her medications and cleaned the port on Kurt's IV.

"¡Tu español ha mejorado!" Rosa gushed. "Pero ese catéter no sale hasta que reciba las órdenes de sacarlo, hijo." (Your Spanish has gotten so good! But that catheter does not come out until I get the orders to take it out, son.)

Kurt simply groaned as she pushed the medication. Finn struggled to keep up with the conversation, and finally just gave up after Kurt had groaned. But he watched as, after all the medication had been pushed, Kurt began to relax again. Unconsciously, the boy had been holding himself stiff against the pain that wracked him, though he was being highly medicated.

Nurse Rosa patted his shoulder after she was done and left the room. She stood next to Dr. Sullivan, who was writing out some more orders at the nurses station.

"Do you still want to get the EEG today now that he's awake?" she asked. She glanced into the room, looking at the wires that were draped on top of the bed around one of the rails. They hadn't done one since around midnight, and only for a few hours once they recognized that there were no seizure signs.

Dr. Sullivan nodded, and looked at the clock.

"Rather soon, if we can. It's been almost 12 hours, I want to know any and all seizure activity that we can get. I'm mostly seeing some Tonics and some Myotonic jerk-like activity. But, as you know, it could change now that he's awake," he said.

Rosa nodded. She quickly patted the man's shoulder and quickly called an EEG tech to reset it up. Kurt wouldn't be happy by a long shot, but at least they weren't shaving his head this time.

Dr. Sullivan finished writing his orders and immediately turned back, wanting to sit down with Burt and Carole separately, needing to explain the plan of care. Burt was standing next to Kurt's bed, smoothing some of his son's hair off his forehead. Kurt was almost asleep again, breathing slowly. Burt kept looking up at his son's oxygen saturation levels, a frown on his lips as his son's oxygen levels continued to dip as he slid into an exhausted sleep.

He looked at the oxygen levels, frowning when he saw that Kurt's oxygen saturation continuously dipped into the high 80's and then back into the very low 90's. Dealing with oxygen could be a gray area, as they didn't want CO2 levels to rise, but they didn't want to send people into Hypoxia.

"Rosa? What's Kurt on O2 wise?" Dr. Sullivan asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the nurse's station.

"5 Liters," Rosa answered easily. "Do you want to take it up to 6?"

"Let's go 5 and a half. Split the difference and change to an oxymask, please. I'm gonna take Carole and Burt into a conference room, talk about the plan of care. Can you keep a close eye on Kurt?"

"Not a problem," she answered, typing into the charting program they used.

Dr. Sullivan quickly fetched Burt and Carole, leading them into the conference room they used for meetings with parents and guardians. Burt had, very understandably, been hesitant to leave Kurt, but once Finn had said he wouldn't leave the room even for a second or a bathroom break, Burt had relented and followed Dr. Sullivan into the conference room.

"What's the plan now?" Burt asked, his eyes flittering towards the door every time a call light when off throughout the floor, as if it were for him to answer.

"Right, so, last time Kurt went into status, I know that we talked about an fMRI and possibly, surgery for epilepsy," Dr. Sullivan said. "At the very least, like I said in the room, we have got to run more tests."

Burt nodded, holding Carole's hand tight.

"I would assume we'd have to sedate Kurt for the fMRI and the other tests? He always wiggles in the machine. He doesn't like the claustrophobia that comes with the machines," Burt commented, playing with their hands like a teen would when trying to avoid a conversation. Unfortunately, they didn't have a choice. These conversations had to be had every time Kurt arrived.

"Oh, definitely to some extent. The last time we tried them with no sedation, I'm pretty sure he broke that MRI tech's nose, and he bit the CT tech's hand in his fear state. No, Kurt gets sedation, it doesn't matter how short the test will be," Dr. Sullivan said, waving a hand to dispel Burt's fear.

Burt shook his head, remembering how he'd been told his son had broken the 6'3, 250 pound MRI tech's nose, wondering why Kurt couldn't do that with his bullies. He smiled softly, the hilarity of the situation hitting him once again.

"You did apologize to him for us, right?" Burt asked, trying to fight down laughter. Carole was grinning, holding a smile behind her mouth.

"I did. Butch even said that it was okay, at least his arm hadn't been broken this time." Dr. Sullivan was smiling just as much as the other two in the room.

"But, Butch wouldn't be the one to operate the fMRI. Unfortunately, I believe that we may need both the regular MRI, and the fMRI, just to cover our bases. He will be sedated for all the tests, because he does fidget and move and get upset," Dr. Sullivan said. "But I think once he's stable, you guys can go home. No need to wait for these tests. But there's something I also want to talk about."

Burt nodded, rubbing one hand over his face. Carole pressed a gentle kiss to Burt's hand.

"You said there was something else?"

Dr. Sullivan nodded slowly, opening up a file full of x-rays. He turned the tablet around so that the two adults could look at them. The first one was a chest X-ray.

"When Kurt came in, I noticed that he had some severe bruising around his chest. It's centered around his ribs, as you know. You've seen them in the last two days, and I think I may know how he got them. Burt, I've known you for going on a decade now. I know that you don't have a bad bone in your body. Someone at school, or in his social circle, is beating Kurt. The stress on his body can be causing the increase in seizures," Dr. Sullivan stressed.

He pointed to a few lines on the ribs, where most of the bruising was concentrated.

"These are broken ribs, some fractures, and some hairline fractures. There's definitely some very painful bone bruises as well."

Burt felt the air catch in his throat as he stared at the X-rays, and then at the various pictures of bruises and then an x-ray of Kurt's skull, where he could see slight shadows and cracks around Kurt's skull. As far as he knew, Kurt had only hit his head bad enough to cause a fracture once – when Kurt had gone into a seizure and fallen off some playground equipment when he was 8.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and his free hand flew up to cover his mouth as nausea rolled through him.

-.-.-

Kurt coughed as Rosa finished setting up the new EEG. Finn now sat in the recliner next to him, catching Kurt up on the new gossip from the glee club. Thankfully, Finn had left out anything about him and his status from almost a week ago.

"Oh, Blaine has a new boyfriend. His name is Chris or something. They met at some support group or something," Finn said, showing his brother the picture of this Chris. Kurt looked at him, frowning as he took in the sight of this 'Chris'.

"He looks like a nerd," Kurt muttered, the pain medication having loosened his tongue a bit. Finn laughed as he swiped his finger to another photo. Kurt blinked hard as he took in slow breaths, smiling when he saw that it was Santana and Brittney, standing together and holding up two papers, both wishing Kurt luck.

"Yeah, I haven't met Chris, but I bet he's a nerd," Finn agreed. "The girls want to know if you're okay with them coming over sometime today or tomorrow. Artie and Mike too, if it's alright. Oh, and Puck sends along a lewd comment."

"Like always," Kurt mumbled, looking sleepy. "They can come. I want to see Brit and Santana."

Finn nodded and turned on his camera. He pointed it at Kurt, grinning.

"Say Cheese!"

Kurt stared at him, but smiled a bit as Finn snapped the photo on Snapchat, quickly typing before he sent it out to the Glee Club group.

'Look who's awake! Still tired but awake.' Finn typed, and then sent out. The photo could be slightly horrifying with how many wires and tubes Kurt had in him, and now that he was realizing it, Finn noticed that his brother was incredibly pale and looked sick.

"Get some sleep. I'll wake you when they're here if they come today. Alright?"

Kurt nodded slowly, dizziness starting to wash over him. He let his eyes slide shut before he allowed himself to slip deeper into sleep, the EEG recording every brain wave. Finn remained seated next to him for the rest of the day, allowing Burt and Carole to slip away for a few hours to shower and get some rest.


	7. Chapter 7

This is mostly a filler chapter. We hear a familiar name, and things start to pick up again. I'm dealing with a few things, so chapters will be up late. I was just diagnosed with a genetic disorder and a type of dysautonomia, which is where my nervous system doesn't work right. It's been a lot of ups and downs. Bear with me!

I also wanted to add - If I'm using too many medical terms and you're not understanding, leave me a comment! I'll try to answer any questions and add a little bit of explanations in my notes. I tend to forget that other people don't work in a hospital or have the exposure I do - I work as a CNA in a hospital and like to research.

Kurt was dozing when a knock on the door rang through the room. He shot his head up and his eyes shot open, making Finn snort with laughter.

"It's the girls," he explained. "You good to see them?"

Kurt scrubbed at his nose and nodded. His dad wasn't back from talking to Dr. Sullivan after the tests, no matter that there wouldn't be anything to show up – there never was.

"Yeah, always," Kurt commented, his head slamming back onto the pillow. He tried to shift, but stopped when a sharp pain ripped through his chest and sent his head further into the pillow, grunting.

Finn stopped and looked at Kurt, frowning. Kurt waved it away, however, and tried to sit up a little more. Nurse Rosa kept prodding him to sit up straight and use the incentive spirometer, which really, really sucked majorly.

"I'm fine. Let them in. Just – Tell Brit I'm still sore," he grunted. Kurt breathed out a small sigh against the nasal cannula.

While Finn's back was turned, he grimaced and tried to sit up a little more, hands shaking heavily as he tried to relax back. When Finn turned around, ushering the girls in, he looked as if he had never moved, and had wiped the grimace from his expression.

Brittany halted before she came in the room, her eyes catching on the machines and the tubes running around Kurt. Kurt seemed dwarfed by the machines, and the wires and the tubes looked painful. The nasal cannula was what caught her, however. It was taped to Kurt's cheeks, and it looked like he'd been picking at it. She shook off the shock and composed herself.

"Dolphin!" Brittany said as she rushed over. Kurt could have screamed when she started running toward him, but Santana cleared her throat before Kurt could act. Brittany stopped and caught herself before she walked over and bent over to give her dolphin a big hug.

"Hmm," Kurt hummed as he accepted the hug. It felt nice to have a comforting touch from someone other than his family and the hospital staff.

Plus, Brit's hugs were to die for.

He pushed his nose into her neck, trying fight back tears as he sat there. When the two pulled away from each other, Kurt was wiping away tears and adjusting the nasal cannula so it rested in the nostrils. Brittney sat down on the edge of the bed while Santana strolled up to the bed.

She looked calm and cool on the outside, but on the inside, she was angry. She was angry that someone like Kurt, who was so dead set on being incredible and amazing, was fighting against his own body as it rebelled.

Kurt gave her a knowing look and opened his arms, careful of the IV. Santana wrapped him in a hug and let out a shaky sigh.

"You cannot keep doing this to me," Santana whispered. Her voice was choked by emotion and the words came out squeakily. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Kurt whispered back. He sniffed back tears again.

They squeezed each other tight, Kurt wincing audibly as his ribs protested. They parted moments later, Santana pulling a chair to the side of the bed so she could sit. Finn hovered at the door, and Kurt waved him off.

"Go get something from the cafeteria," Kurt said. "Satan and Brit know what to look for and when I need some help."

"Alright. I'll be back. Want anything?" Finn asked. He walked to grab his wallet and put it in the pocket of his gym shorts.

Kurt immediately jumped on it.

"Milkshake? Please? Or French Fries? Only the cafeteria ones though." Kurt looked rather excited at the prospect of getting either, and Finn immediately made the decision to get both, just to make Kurt's face light up.

"Yeah. I'll see what I can do," Finn answered. He quickly ruffled Kurt's hair, his heart falling when he realized that it wasn't riling Kurt up like it normally was. Then he felt the cold gel from the EEG's and made a slight gagging noise.

Kurt began to laugh, coughing every once in a while.

"Now you know why I want to shower," he proclaimed. "But seriously, either would be amazing. The milkshake would be so good."

"Chocolate?"

"Yes!"

Kurt said it so fast that Santana laughed, and Brittany perked up. She'd been quiet for a few minutes, just watching her friend, to make sure he wouldn't launch into a seizure again.

"Alright. Stupid question. Anything else? They want you to gain more weight."

"That's why they took me off the ketogenic diet," Kurt affirmed. His hand came up to his face to pick at the tape, and Finn snapped his fingers. Kurt's hand immediately dropped from his face and he wrinkled his nose.

"Leave it alone Kurt!"

Finn waved as he stepped out of the room, leaving Kurt in the room with the girls. As soon as he was gone, however, Brittany moved to the other side of the bed and Santana sat on the spot Brittany had vacated. They settled with Brittney on Kurt's left side and Santana on the right, and both sat back so they were lying next to Kurt, on their backs.

"Biting the bullet to look like I care," Santana started, sounding like her snarky self, "How are you doing?"

Kurt sighed and looked down at his lap before shrugging. Tears threatened to drip down his cheeks, and he wiped the tears from his eyes with the side of his right hand, trying to keep the IV from getting wet, even with tears. Afterwards, however, he began to pick at the tape that secured the nasal cannula and prevented him from ripping it off his face every ten seconds.

"Frustrated," Kurt whispered. He glanced down at his lap and played with his hands.

"Oh Dolphin," Britt whispered. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and began to rub the base of his neck, giving it a gentle massage.

Her hand connected with a little bit of the gel and she shivered from the temperature. After that initial shiver, however, she scooped a little bit of it and began to play with it on her hand. Kurt couldn't help but laugh as she brought her hand close to play with the gel.

"It's this weird EEG gel. It's the same they use for ultrasounds," Kurt explained, though he knew that Britt knew perfectly well what it was. "They glue it to my head to watch the brain for seizure activity."

Brittney nodded, and looked rather interested.

"Wonder how much electricity can go through it."

Knowing that it was more a statement to herself, Kurt turned to Santana and began to elaborate on his previous comment.

"I'm just frustrated. And I'm in pain, and I think Dad knows about the –" Kurt cut off as there was a gurgling noise within his chest. He began to cough violently, pushing his head back against the pillow as each cough tugged at his broken and bruised ribs.

Santana took Kurt's hand and gave it a squeeze. She reached for the call button, which was in his lap, and pressed the red button, all without him seeing. Kurt managed to lift his hand and point to the pink kidney basin, coughing violently. Mucus and sputum dislodged from inside his chest and was now sitting in his mouth, waiting to be spit out.

Brittney, no longer fascinated with the gel, grabbed the basin and stood up so Kurt could have more room. She gave the basin to him and listened as the young man coughed and spit out an orangey-red colored sputum. An alarm began to sound from the monitor that protruded from the wall. Santana looked up and frowned when she saw Kurt's oxygen Saturation was resting around 84%, not the usual 90% minimum it should be.

"Help me sit him forward," Santana commanded. Brittney immediately slid one arm under Kurt's armpit, while Santana did the same. They quickly moved Kurt into a more upright position, their free hands resting against Kurt's upper back, like they had done this together before.

Immediately, Kurt's hacking became less violent and he moved the basin into a new position as he continued to cough and spit. He was spitting out the last of it when Rosa ran in, a few more kidney basins and an albuterol treatment.

"Alright, Kurt. Get that stuff moving," Rosa commanded. She worked around the girls who supported Kurt as she pulled on a pair of gloves and swapped out the basin.

Kurt's coughing began to calm as more and more mucus was passed from his lungs to outside his body. However helpful this would have been anyway, it caused an excruciating shock of pain through his chest as broken and bruised ribs moved in ways they shouldn't.

Rosa put the basin off to the side and, as Kurt gasped to regain his breath, she set up the nebulizer treatment.

"How you doing Kurt? Better?"

Kurt shook his head, still gasping. Santana rubbed his back soothingly, and she and Brit shared a look of worry. But, as Kurt's breathing evened out, he began to gain a little bit of his color back.

"I'm good. Can I sit back?" He picked his head up and looked between the girls.

Immediately, they placed him back against the pillow castle he now called his bed. Rosa was there with the oxygen mask and the vaporized medication. She gently pulled the tape off Kurt's face and then removed the nasal cannula, replacing it with the Oxymask.

"You good, Porcelain?" Santana asked. Kurt nodded and gave them a shaky thumbs-up.

"Sorry," he wheezed out. "Pneumonia."

"It's alright, Teen Gay. We're used to it. At least you don't have a catheter," Santana said.

Kurt huffed, coughing again, and shook his head.

"Like they'll let me out of bed," he puffed.

Brittany sat down on the edge of the bed while Rosa made a few tweaks to the airflow and then patted Kurt on the shoulder.

" _Mijo_ , not too much longer. You need to sleep," Rosa reminded him.

Kurt frowned and looked up at her, gently pulling the mask off for a moment.

"Can they stay?" he huffed. "Finn stays, and he's not blood."

Rosa hesitated for a quick second. The girls had been here before, and he was always a lot more content when they were here opposed to Finn. And the girls knew what to do if something went wrong. Hell, they were Sylvester's Cheerios. They'd probably know what was going to happen before it would happen.

"They can stay. But when I bring your meds in, you let them kick in. You sleep if you need to. Alright, _Mijo_?"

Kurt nodded. His furrowed eyebrows evened out as he let the treatment start doing what it was supposed to and open up his lungs. He let his body sag against the bed as Rosa turned and washed her hands. When she was gone, Brittany and Santana settled back into their previous positions at his side.

Santana took his right side, Brittany the left. He sagged back against Santana and took Brittany's hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

They were quiet for a while, as the treatment finished. Rosa bustled in and out for a good ten minutes, setting up Kurt's next dose of antibiotics and his next dose of anticonvulsants and painkillers. With how many bone bruises and broken ribs and fractures to his skull, Dr. Sullivan had prescribed for Kurt to have morphine every hour, though the teen was only taking it every 6-8 hours. He was in excruciating pain, but tried to fight the pain medication tooth and nail, getting his way eventually.

No one could win when faced against Kurt Hummel.

When Kurt's breathing treatment was finished, she switched out the oxygen mask for a nasal cannula and turned the oxygen back on. Kurt looked up at her as she finished and pulled on a new pair of gloves. Brittany and Santana were quiet and pensive while Kurt conversed with Rosa, still sounding a bit breathless.

"What am I on?" he questioned, a very slight, soft wheeze audible.

"5 Liters, _Mijo_. Leave it on, don't make me retape it to your face like a 5-year-old. Trial run!"

Santana almost snorted with laughter at the indignant look on Kurt's face. She grinned as Kurt fixed her with an unamused glare. He then looked up at Rosa, his nose wrinkled.

"Don't you give that look, you've broken five in the 4 days you've been here," she said, a playful smile on her face. "Alright, I have your medication. I need to get to your IV."

Kurt lifted his right hand, and Rosa cleaned the port before starting to push the medication through the IV. First came A dose of Morphine – doubled, at Dr. Sullivan's new order. If Kurt wasn't going to take it frequently, he'd get a bigger dose spread out further throughout the day. He wrinkled his nose when the dose of medication hit him, and looked up at her with a grave expression.

He pointed to her with his left pointer finger.

"You just dosed me," he accused.

"I gave you your normal medication, _Mijo_. Dr. Sullivan's orders," she responded. The line was rehearsed and Kurt wrinkled his nose, sitting back against the mattress, which had been moved so that it sat at 50 degrees.

He rubbed at his nose as she pushed a flush of saline and then the next few doses of medication. He was more relaxed when she was done; able to breathe better, not in much pain, and finally comfortable now that the migraine was gone.

Rosa left a few minutes later, and Kurt turned his head to Santana, looking tired. His eyelids were heavy with the effects of the medication and the stress of his situation.

"Please tell me something good. Gossip, newest in Glee, football drama, I'd even listen about Puckerman's conquests."

Santana grinned devilishly and patted Kurt's leg.

"There's a new boy in town," Brittany said, grinning as wide as can be. "He's a Dolphin!"

Kurt frowned and scrubbed at his nose. He wrinkled it, feeling the skin on his nose prickle and itch. Santana took his hand and held it in his lap, and Brittany took his other hand, working together to keep Kurt from (A) scratching his nose, and (B), Pulling the nasal cannula off his face.

"The last time another Dolphin was in town, he ended up cheating on me with _Rachel Berry_ ," his tone was so cynical that Santana was ready to record this and put it up on Youtube.

On that thought, Santana's phone began to burn a hole in her pocket. She almost reached for it, stopped, and then grabbed it anyway. She quickly set her phone up on the bedside table, pressing record. It sat up on its side, recording what was about to come.

"And then Rachel Berry and _Blaaaa-ine_ ," he half paused, trying to reach up for the nasal cannula before he was caught, "got together and broke up in a week! And said _I_ was the reason!"

"Yeah, they were kinda dicks," Santana said. He patted Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt scrubbed at his nose again before he puffed out a sigh. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes sliding closed against his will. They were all quiet, waiting to see if Kurt would sleep or stay awake.

Santana was almost convinced that he would fall asleep – with all the medications he was on, she wouldn't put it against him. But then he slammed his head up and his eyes became wide.

"Is he cute?"

Santana jerked up, while Brittany seemed unfazed. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked down at Kurt. _Jesus Christ, Kurt!_ She thought to herself.

"Who?"

"T-Thh-The new kid," Kurt mumbled. "The Dolphin."

Santana nodded to Brittany, who took out her phone and tapped on it a few times. Then she showed him the photo. Kurt's eyes went wide and he took the phone.

"He's cute," Kurt mumbled, his eyes threatening to droop. But he shook his head, bringing himself back into further awareness.

"His name's Sebastian," Santana said. "He's from –"

"Dalton," Kurt murmured. "He was the cute one I saw at lunch, 'n in the lye – Libr – Library."

Kurt passed the phone back and let out a small hum. He let his eyes slide closed.

"Finn said someone's dating Blaine," he said, gently picking his head up and forcing his eyelids open. It felt like there were 20-pound weights attached to them, but he did it.

Santana snorted.

"Frankenteen hasn't been around school much in the last four days, Teen Gay. He heard it wrong from Puck."

Kurt nodded and settled back down, putting his cheek on Santana's shoulder. Brittany took his free hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Go to sleep, Teen Gay."

"Stay? Please?"

Brittany smiled and wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders.

"Go to sleep. We'll stay for a while."

Kurt didn't respond, his head already lulling to the side. He slipped into sleep easily, the medication aiding in the rapid change between awareness and sleep.


End file.
